Japanese Games Can Learn From Anime

One of the criticisms most often leveled at Japanese games—particularly those in the JRPG genre—is that the characters and stories tend to fall into well established tropes of the animation industry in Japan that preceded games. We’ve all seen the clichés; the amnesiac protagonist, they mysterious transfer student, the orphan with a special destiny, the female childhood friend carrying a torch for the hero but unable to declare her feelings, lessons about the power of friendship, and, of course, the need to get stronger purely as a noble method of protecting loved ones. All of these character and narrative devices have popped up time and again in JRPGs, with Square Enix and Bandai Namco games being the biggest offenders.